Via the FT:
The evidence for millennial spending habits is real enough. The Financial Times has been running a series of articles exploring the ways in which this generation is reshaping consumer trends. But it is a mistake for critics of millennials to consider their enthusiasm for new products and services to be proof that young people have decadent lives. Like every generation, the millennials are unequal. And as with any age group, the people at the top with the most spending power are the most visible and influential. Most of the world’s 1.8bn millennials are not spending £7 on an artisanal gin and tonic.
Better to look at the data. Even in a rich country such as the UK, young people are on average more austere, not less. In 2001, 25 to 34-year-olds spent roughly the same amount of money as 55 to 64-year-olds on goods and services other than housing. Now, the younger group spends 15 per cent less.
